Rita's Gold Report

Rita wrote the following account of her first Bloomington Gold Day and Wylie took a video of the evening parade.Bloomington Gold certainly lived up to its billing last weekend! Corvette Indy members making the trip were our leaders Al & Terri F, Jerry & Elaine C, Wylie & Rita E, Bill L, and soon to be members Steve & Mary H. Mark and Donna S. joined the caravan in Pittsboro. Lots of Corvettes and lots of people made the trip to Champaign, Illinois. We saw clubs from Nebraska, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and many others. We even ran into Barry R, and Pat H, who along with members Terry & Maggie D, Bill B, Jeff B rode together in Barry's big truck. The crowd mainly walked around all the vendors and displays and ogled all the 1000s of Corvettes. Some folks were interested in rusty car parts and disassembled engines, but we (the women) focused mainly on Corvettes and Corvette clothes while the men checked out the cars being judged. That occupied us until the late afternoon.

Then, everything changed! I was hot and tired and wanted to go home, but we lined up for the parade (Gold Tour) anyway. It took awhile to get going, lining up 1100 cars, but it was worth the wait .Never in my life have I experienced such enthusiastic crowds who cheered us on the 25 mile plus route. Every little development, farm road and sometimes in the middle of seemingly nowhere, had people sitting in lawn chairs, waving flags and screaming, " We Love Corvettes." The parade experience was like an old time revival. People, young, old,and in between, genuinely love Corvettes. Some made signs for us. Some decorated their little areas. It was wonderful! It is hard to describe how many people chose to spend their Saturday night watching cars. Goosebumps!! Very very impressive. This parade had no marching bands, no Boy Scouts, no floats, just 1100 Corvettes, and the crowd loved it.

I would highly recommend that any Corvette lover attend this event at least once in a lifetime. Also, ask certain Corvette Indy members this question. How many Corvette lovers can fit on a two person golf cart?Return to Bloomington Gold 2014